Bedwetting

Bedwetting is when your child wets the bed involuntarily. It occurs mainly at night and affects at least 16% of children aged 5. Your child will normally outgrow the problem, so the best cure for bedwetting is often time. Bedwetting is also known as its medical term, which is enuresis. This DryNites site has been designed to give you all the information necessary to deal with this problem as well as the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are not alone in facing this problem.

Learn about bedwetting

DryNites Online

Sign up for our regular newsletter containing ongoing advice and tips during your child’s bedwetting stage. In the New Zealand DryNites Online newsletter, renowned bedwetting expert, Dr Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett will answer your bedwetting related questions. The latest medical information and studies on what works and what doesn’t, will also appear in the newsletter. For a full overview of all the information on the DryNites Site, have a look at the sitemap.

Your Stories

I’m a mum of 2 kids, I have brought them up exactly the same way, even potty trained them at the same age in their lives. The first was dry day and night by the time they were 3 and my second, well, I hope he’ll be dry at night by the time he turns 21…


More bedwetting stories

Your Bedwetting Plan

Until your child grows out of his/her bedwetting, it can be a difficult time for both of you. It may be helpful to develop a plan to help manage bedwetting and potentially lessen embarrassing moments and awkwardness that your child may feel during this difficult period. There are a number of bedwetting solutions out there to help you manage your child’s bedwetting, from behavioural modification, medication or products such as absorbent pyjama pants.

Some children respond to just one kind of treatment very well while other kids will see an improvement using a combination of treatments. As each child is different, use trial and error to establish what solution works for your family. Try one treatment, if it doesn’t work try another and so on.

DryNites® Pyjama Pants can work as part of a holistic approach to help with your child’s bedwetting. The pants come in both boys and girls with gender specific designs for either your son or daughter. DryNites’ Pyjama Pants are comfy and discreet and let your child sleep through the night while still feeling dry.

Getting a good night’s sleep will benefit the whole family, and especially the parents! Why not try a free sample of DryNites® Pyjama Pants, see what a difference they can make to managing your child’s bedwetting.

Bedwetting facts

  • Children who wet the bed do not do it on purpose; it is neither their fault, nor the parents
  • Bedwetting is usually a stage of development that kids simply outgrow with patience and time
  • Wetting the bed is a very widespread problem, affecting millions of children around the world
  • Bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis) can actually be divided into 2 distinct types, namely; primary nocturnal enuresis and secondary nocturnal enuresis. Both these variations have different causes and solutions
  • The majority of children who wet the bed suffer from primary nocturnal enuresis
  • Bedwetting is often inherited, if both parents suffered from bedwetting as children then there is an approximate 75% chance that their child will suffer from bedwetting
  • Most children who wet the bed will outgrow it by the time they are 11 years old
  • More boys wet the bed than girls
  • Bedwetting is generally not caused by psychological or emotional reasons

More bedwetting facts

Ask an Expert

Dr Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett is an veteran Child Development expert. As a mother of three young children, understanding children’s development and promoting positive approaches to parenting has become both a passion and a full-time career. Have a look at some of the questions asked by our readers and the expert answers by Dr Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett below.

9 years and still Bedwetting HELP

Given your son’s age and the potential impact his bedwetting can have on his social interactions – now is the time to look into introducing som…

Asked by Anonymous

My daughter still wears a nappy to bed and hardly ever is dry. Is there anything we can do to help her become dry?

Hi Rachel, depending on your daughter’s age there are a few things that you can do. If she is under 7 years of age then the general recommendati…

Asked by Rachel

Have a daughter heading to school in July have taking her out of pull ups n have been waking her before we go to bed n thn 3 hrs later she thn stays dry till morn have had accidents along the way but she nt able to wake herself up do if we don’t wake her

Hi Michelle – managing children’s bedwetting can be incredibly tricky, partly because we often do not understand the underlying cause and partl…

Asked by Michelle V.